In Germany and Italy:

PARIS (AFP) - Lethal bird flu continued its advance across Europe with more infected birds found in Germany and Italy, while in India seven people were under observation with symptoms of the disease.

The H5N1 strain of the flu which can be potentially fatal to humans was detected for the first time on the German mainland in the northeast state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 61, animal health experts said.

In Italy, the Institute of Animal Health in the north eastern city of Padua announced the virus had been detected in a total of 16 birds in the country.

H5N1 was also confirmed in Tuzla and Navodari on the shores of the Black Sea in Romania, bringing to 33 the number of sites where it has been found nationwide, a veterinary official said.

Samples from the latest Romanian cases were sent to the
European Union reference laboratory in Weybridge, Britain, to establish whether it was the highly pathogenic form of the H5N1 virus.

French authorities vowed to spare no effort in containing avian influenza after the country became the sixth in the European Union, and the most westerly, to be hit by the virus.